Like other meteor showers, such as the Perseids and the Orionids, the Leonids happen when Earth plows through a trail of debris left in the wake of a comet orbiting the sun.

• 类似于英仙座流星雨，猎户座流星雨以及其他流星雨，狮子座流星雨发生于地球在绕太阳公转过程中进入充满彗星碎片的流星体质点溪流之中。